Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 6852 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM DEVELOPING SOLUTIONS FOR FARMERS CORPORATE SPOTLIGHT: IDEN BIOTECHNOLOGY AN INTERVIEW WITH IDEN BIOTECHNOLOGY CEO NORA ALONSO CASAJÚS. EUROPEAN SEED: CAN YOU TELL US A BIT MORE ABOUT YOUR COMPANY, WHAT IT DOES, AND WHO YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE? NORA ALONSO CASAJÚS: Iden is an agbiotech private company, where we develop products as integrated solutions for crop yield and quality enhancement. Our biotech products for the agricultural sector include biological products, like plant biostimulants and biopesticides, and improved seeds. We envision our products to be used either as independent or integrated solutions of seed and biological products in the future. Our customers are within the broad sectors of seeds and crop protection. ES: YOU WORK NOT ONLY IN CROP IMPROVEMENT BUT ALSO IN AGROBIOLOGICALS. WHY DO YOU WORK IN BOTH AREAS? WHERE IS YOUR LINK TO THE SEED INDUSTRY? NAC: Our objective is to develop solutions for the farmer, and ensuring crop productivity is an objective that must be tackled from different fronts. The agricultural sector is 52 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM continuously looking for new complementary but not exclusive products that enhance crop performance through synergistic modes of action. Using biostimulants we can promote the growth of the plant and/or improve its resistance to abiotic stresses. Additionally, the use of biopesticides will protect the crop’s development and productivity from different pests (fungi, insects, nematodes, etc.) during the crop growth cycle. Both external inputs, biostimulants and biopesticides will contribute to obtaining the best crop performance. Furthermore, the response of the plant is the result of a change in gene expression, protein activity and metabolic pathways and the deep understanding of plant responses under different conditions at a genomic and proteomic level can lead to the identification of traits of interest for biotech crop generation. Therefore, the combination of biological inputs and biotech crops will lead us to the development of integrated solutions with crops showing better performance under field variable conditions, higher yield and higher quality. Our link to the seed industry is both at crop and input level, generating better varieties and biological products for seed treatment, foliar or root application. CAN YOU GIVE SOME EXAMPLES OF WHICH IS THE DIFFERENTIAL CONTRIBUTION OF YOUR PRODUCTS THAT CAN HELP CUSTOMERS IN THE SEED SECTOR WITH THEIR CROP IMPROVEMENT AND AGROBIOLOGICALS? WHAT DOES THIS WORK ENTAIL? NAC: In the crop improvement area, currently we are enhancing crop performance through the overexpression of plant genes involved in yield increase and resistance to abiotic stresses like low temperature stress. We have narrowed our activity to the use of genes of plant origin, with a clear objective of increasing yield and abiotic stress resistance but not biotic stress resistance and we are targeting our traits to the major cereals and vegetables crops. Agrobiologicals improve plant growth and resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses, which in turn increases productivity. Our products are based on a novel approach as a result of a disruptive innovation. As opposed to current products in the market containing living microorganisms, our products are based in microbial fermentation exudates, not containing living cells. Thus, we avoid problems related to the survival of living microorganisms and modification of the soil biota with a higher control on the product composition and behaviour. ES: HOW DO YOU ENVISION THE FUTURE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY AND GM PRODUCTS IN EUROPE? WILL THERE BE A TIME WHEN GM VARIETIES WILL BE MORE ACCEPTED THAN THEY ARE NOW? NAC: The strong social debate of the last decades about the use of GM products in the EU has been translated into strong regulation that prevents their production in the EU countries, in comparison with other countries, like USA and Argentina, where they can be produced and marketed for different uses, including industrial applications, animal feed and human consumption. Nevertheless, in the last few years there has been a change in social perception and there are new voices debating the benefits that the use of GM products could provide at different levels to the farmers, the food processors and the consumers, based on scientific information. We consider that it is difficult to change the regulatory frame for the cultivation of those products in Europe but I hope that a change of vision in the social debate, could allow changes to the framework to allow GM varieties build a more competitive agricultural sector in the EU countries. ES: NOWADAYS THERE ARE MANY DISCUSSIONS ON THE SO-CALLED NEW BREEDING TECHNIQUES (SUCH AS GENE-EDITING, CRISPR, TALENS, REVERSE BREEDING, ODDM ETC.) WHICH ALL, IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, DEPLOY BIOTECHNOLOGY. DO YOU USE ANY OF THESE TECHNIQUES? HOW DO YOU SEE THE DEBATE THAT IS CURRENTLY ONGOING IN EUROPE? NAC: Yes, we are analyzing the market opportunities of those new techniques for the production of new products, because they provide important technical advantages for product development and marketing. In Europe, the debate is ongoing, with doubts about them from a regulatory point of view. I hope that the EU does not miss this opportunity to use those new breeding techniques for the development of new products for a more competitive agricultural sector.